Dr. Martin Thullner
Contact
Dr. Martin Thullner
Senior Scientist, Head of Geomicrobial Reactive Transport Systems Group
Department of Environmental Microbiology
Working Group Geomicrobial Reactive Transport Systems
Helmholtz Centre
for Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany
Phone +49 341 235-1338
Fax +49 341 235-451338
martin.thullner@ufz.de

Research Interests
My research activities focus on reactive transport modeling of subsurface environments. Of particular interest are biogeochemical/geomicrobial processes involved in the microbial degradation of organic carbon species (contaminants or natural organic matter) in aquifers, soils or aquatic sediments. Research topics include- microbial community dynamics and their implication on biogeochemical reactions
- limitation of microbial activity due to mass transfer processes (bioavailability)
- upscaling of pore scale processes to the macro scale
- microbially induced isotope fractionation
- competition between organic carbon degradation pathways in redox stratified systems
- influence of microbial growth on hydraulic properties of porous media (bioclogging)
Current Research Activity
see group page
Geomicrobial Reactive Transport Systems
Model Development and Environmental Applications
(GReaT MoDE)
Education
2002
Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Department of Environmental Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
1997
M.Sc. in Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany
CV / Scientific Career
since 2013
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Canada
since 2007
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences - Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
since 2005
Senior Research Associate, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
2003-2005
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Earth Sciences - Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2002-2003
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Recent Publications
- König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Centler, F., (2018):
Functional resistance to recurrent spatially heterogeneous disturbances is facilitated by increased activity of surviving bacteria in a virtual ecosystem
Front. Microbiol. 9 , art. 734
Volltext (URL)
Daten DOI - Newcomer, M.E., Hubbard, S.S., Fleckenstein, J.H., Maier, U., Schmidt, C., Thullner, M., Ulrich, C., Flipo, F., Rubin, Y., (2018):
Influence of hydrological perturbations and riverbed sediment characteristics on hyporheic zone respiration of CO2 and N2
J. Geophys. Res.
Volltext (URL)
Daten DOI - Gharasoo, M., Thullner, M., Elsner, M., (2017):
Introduction of a new platform for parameter estimation of kinetically complex environmental systems
Environ. Modell. Softw. 98 , 12 - 20
Volltext (URL) - König, S., Worrich, A., Centler, F., Wick, L.Y., Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Thullner, M., Frank, K., Banitz, T., (2017):
Modelling functional resilience of microbial ecosystems: Analysis of governing processes
Environ. Modell. Softw. 89 , 31 - 39
Volltext (URL) - Worrich, A., Stryhanyuk, H., Musat, N., König, S., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Richnow, H.-H., Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Wick, L.Y., (2017):
Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and oligotrophic environments
Nat. Commun. 8 , art. 15472
Volltext (URL) - Alvarez-Zaldívar, P., Centler, F., Maier, U., Thullner, M., Imfeld, G., (2016):
Biogeochemical modelling of in situ biodegradation and stable isotope fractionation of intermediate chloroethenes in a horizontal subsurface flow wetland
Ecol. Eng. 90 , 170 - 179
Volltext (URL) - Berthold, T., Centler, F., Hübschmann, T., Remer, R., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Wick, L.Y., (2016):
Mycelia as a focal point for horizontal gene transfer among soil bacteria
Sci. Rep. 6 , art. 36390
Volltext (URL) - Khan, A.M., Wick, L.Y., Harms, H., Thullner, M., (2016):
Biodegradation of vapor-phase toluene in unsaturated porous media: Column experiments
Environ. Pollut. 211 , 325 - 331
Volltext (URL) - Newcomer, M.E., Hubbard, S.S., Fleckenstein, J.H., Maier, U., Schmidt, C., Thullner, M., Ulrich, C., Flipo, N., Rubin, Y., (2016):
Simulating bioclogging effects on dynamic riverbed permeability and infiltration
Water Resour. Res. 52 (4), 2883 - 2900
Volltext (URL) - Otto, S., Banitz, T., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Wick, L.Y., (2016):
Effects of facilitated bacterial dispersal on the degradation and emission of a desorbing contaminant
Environ. Sci. Technol. 50 (12), 6320 - 6326
Volltext (URL) - Stefanakis, A.I., Seeger, E., Dorer, C., Sinke, A., Thullner, M., (2016):
Performance of pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands treating groundwater contaminated with phenols and petroleum derivatives
Ecol. Eng. 95 , 514 - 526
Volltext (URL) - Stolpovsky, K., Fetzer, I., van Cappellen, P., Thullner, M., (2016):
Influence of dormancy on microbial competition under intermittent substrate supply: insights from model simulations
FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 92 (6), fiw071
Volltext (URL) - Worrich, A., König, S., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Kaestner, M., (2016):
Bacterial dispersal promotes biodegradation in heterogeneous systems exposed to osmotic stress
Front. Microbiol. 7 , art. 1214
Volltext (URL) - Worrich, A., König, S., Miltner, A., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Wick, L.Y., (2016):
Mycelium-like networks increase bacterial dispersal, growth, and biodegradation in a model ecosystem at various water potentials
Appl. Environ. Microb. 82 (10), 2902 - 2908
Volltext (URL) - Centler, F., Thullner, M., (2015):
Chemotactic preferences govern competition and pattern formation in simulated two-strain microbial communities
Front. Microbiol. 6 , art. 40
Volltext (URL) - Gharasoo, M., Centler, F., van Cappellen, P., Wick, L.Y., Thullner, M., (2015):
Kinetics of substrate biodegradation under the cumulative effects of bioavailability and self-inhibition
Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 (9), 5529 - 5537
Volltext (URL) - Richter, S., Fetzer, I., Thullner, M., Centler, F., Dittrich, P., (2015):
Towards rule-based metabolic databases: a requirement analysis based on KEGG
Int. J. Data Min. Bioinform. 13 (3), 289 - 319
Volltext (URL)